Dear Ladies of St. Mary Magdalen Parish,

If you are not yet a Council of Catholic Woman member and are interested in finding out more, please email dstring@cfl.rr.com and we will answer any questions that you may have.  We invite all Catholic women to be members of this vibrant and dedicated organization.

Within the Saint Mary Magdalen CCW there are 8 Circles (or groups) of women that are focused on carrying out the mission of the church. There is also a group of women called Members at Large that keep up on what is going on and volunteer as their schedule permits. Please click on the Circle Activities link to get specific information about each group.

As a whole, our CCW organization is a service organization which is structured around three (3) commissions: Spirituality, Leadership, and Service.

Service Commission includes:

Family Concerns: Assists families in achieving Christian principles in those areas that pertain to the welfare of families, women and children’s health, and well-being issues. Its programs are concerned with child and parent education, preservation of family unity, care for the aged, and religion in the family.

Community Concerns: Involves the members and all people in working to answer the needs and concerns of their individual communities. Its programs, determined by local needs, includes such areas as housing, minority concerns, environmental concerns, Respite, safety, literacy, education, and work for all.

International Concerns: Promotes responsibility for the world community through the conviction that our wealth and resources must be shared with all people. Its programs create awareness and action is concerned with peace, education for international understanding, international relief and development, and works of peace and justice.

Spiritual Commission includes:

Church: Expands the way we look at our faith by leading the Council in programs of study and action in the area of scripture, liturgy and ecumenism. This commission works to reinforce faith and provide resources for spiritual nourishment and development of the faith community.

Legislation: Encourages every Catholic woman to register and vote; provides information about legislative matters, and the “How To” methods of taking action which influences legislators. In other words, it helps individual people and groups to become more politically effective.

Leadership Commission includes:

Organization: Acts as a service bureau and gives supportive services to the other five commissions, officers, and Circle chairs. Its services include organizational development, membership, training activities, public relations, and publications.

The work of the Council is done through these commissions. But, we are part of a larger group, the Orlando Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (ODCCW) which represents the Catholic women in the Diocese of Orlando through parish affiliations or groups. We have 33 affiliations at the present time in the five deaneries: Central Deanery, Eastern Deanery, Northern Deanery, Southern Deanery, and Western Deanery. Our Saint Mary Magdalen CCW is included in the Central Deanery. Each Deanery elects three representatives to serve on the ODCCW Board. The other parishes in the Central Deanery include:

All Souls, Sanford

Annunciation, Altamonte Springs

Blessed Trinity, Orlando

Holy Redeemer, Kissimmee

St. Augustine, Casselberry

St. Charles, Orlando

St. Francis of Assisi, Apopka

St. Mary Magdalen, Altamonte Springs

St. Maximilian Kolbe, Avalon Park

St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Cloud

Sts. Peter & Paul, Winter Park

The Orlando Council is affiliated with the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) and strives to “support, educate, and empower” the women in our diocese “in spirituality, leadership, and service,” as stated in the NCCW Mission Statement.

The President of the ODCCW represents the women in the diocese at the State (or Province) level by attending meetings of the Florida Council of Catholic Women (FCCW), also known as the Province of Miami. The FCCW President, in turn, represents the women in the state of Florida by serving on the Board of the National Council of Catholic Women.